LET’S GET right to the point: promposals are stupid and sexist.
For most, a promposal is nothing more than a question that was answered months before, when you asked the girl to be your signifcant other. It’s an overemphasized gesture of attention, where the girl relishes in the “oohs” and “aahs” from people, the majority of whom she hasn’t spoken to for weeks.
We, the unfortunate and heavily outnumbered boys, are forced into a whirlwind of insanity to appease a demand for elaborate promposals. Nowadays, the promposal seems to be a staple in attaining a prom date for high schoolers. Quite odd, since the practice only began in 2005, but the power of social media strikes again. Ask anyone from previous generations and it becomes apparent that the promposal isn’t traditional; it is merely a new fad that has unfortunately taken hold of teen culture. If a boy doesn’t spend hours creating the perfect promposal, he shouldn’t expect a prom date. But is it fair for so many girls to expect promposals, especially in a school like ours?
A number of people complain about sexism present in the school, such as the dress code, which is said to target mainly females. Many also think boys possess an undeserved sense of entitlement, but wouldn’t it be sexist then to expect boys to conduct promposals? While some girls do prompose, it’s rather odd that in a school with a female majority, most promposals are done by the minority. If people wish to oppose the sexism in our school, shouldn’t they also be protesting promposals?
To make matters worse, some girls will threaten to reject a promposer if the promposal isn’t “sufcient.” There are girls who, for whatever reason, believe that they are entitled to a grand promposal. Many aren’t joking when they say, “If his promposal sucks, I’m not going with him.” How is it fair that a guy spends hours planning a promposal, only to be told that it wasn’t up to par? We aren’t saying that any boy should get a date just for asking; we’re saying that it’s ridiculous that some girls who would have gone with the boy reject him solely because the promposal felt unsatisfactory. Why is it that ceremony now triumphs over earnesty? Some boys are simply too shy to prompose; they aren’t comfortable with the public display of affection that a promposal brings. Shouldn’t the basis for accepting a promposal be set on your relationship with the person, rather than promposal’s aesthetic quality?
Don’t get us wrong, boys aren’t the only ones negatively afected by ridiculous promposals. If the matter had not been agreed upon prior, a girl may fnd herself accepting a promposal from public pressure. An unexpected, magnanimous promposal has no positive outcomes: say yes, and you’ll fnd yourself at prom with an undesirable date; say no, and you’ll be remembered as the vile creature that embarrassed a boy in front of everyone. This romantic-hostage situation only add to the absurdity of promposals.
What happened to the days when having a great person to enjoy prom with alone was enough? When did prom become just as important as popping the big question? Asking someone to prom shouldn’t require an extravaganza of balloons, singing, and an orchestra. We know we’re not alone when we hope that the promposal fad dies out and fast.
